


All The Hope That I Lost, It Was Found

by KyeAbove



Series: Philosophy Of Warmth [1]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Humor, Bird Alice (Bendy and the Ink Machine), Childhood Friends, Dog Boris (Bendy and the Ink Machine), Family Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Human Bendy (Bendy and the Ink Machine), Implied/Referenced Character Death, Kid Fic, M/M, Minor Injuries, Past Child Abuse, Pregnancy, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-05-29 13:17:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19401094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyeAbove/pseuds/KyeAbove
Summary: Henry never expected to see Joey again. Yet, he showed up on Henry’s doorstep eight years after the troubling end of their friendship, with a child called Bendy at his side.These years apart have been enough time to think over a friendship that went wrong in the worst ways, and wonder if it was worth it all in the end.





	1. Broken Inside

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [What's It Like In The Cold?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13083285) by [KyeAbove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyeAbove/pseuds/KyeAbove). 



> So a year and a half ago, I wrote a story called What’s It Like In The Cold? It was my first well thought out work for this fandom. Today, I still love the basic concept but its outdated with what I currently write and frankly not living up to its full potential. This is partly a rewrite of that fic, but far, far more developed, and with many different concepts so its not a complete rehash of the original. Notice from the chapter count how its planned to be at least twice the length compared to Cold’s 10 chapters, give or take a few chapters. To old readers, welcome back, it's been a long time. To new readers, hello! 
> 
> For a couple chapters it’ll be a relatively straight rewrite, then it diverges.

Joey spent the last money he had to his name on bus tickets. Two tickets, for a town only hours away, but a rather hurting distance for his heart. Two. One for him, and one for his son. His son had no idea how greatly this affected him. That Joey was returning to the place that had haunted Joey longer than the fear of losing his child.

The day of the bus ride, Joey hugged his mother goodbye while using every willpower to not cry being so close to this wretched woman, and shook his father’s hand and tried not to let his own hand shake. He said his last goodbyes, before picking up his frowning son, and carrying him onto the bus. His son felt lighter than their carry-on bags, and the weight of Joey’s loss. And Joey had lost a lot in his life. Some by outside sources, but much by his own undoing.

Joey made many mistakes in his life, before, and maybe even as the seconds slipped by as he walked down the buss aisle. But if he could manage this, he could start over. It was dreaming that gave him hope. False dreaming that ruined his life. If he just  _ lived,  _ maybe he could rise above both. 

“Dad! How about we get that seat?” His son, Bendy, was much more cheerful now, being away from his grandparents. Bendy always could tell the unease in the family and reacted to it. He was now excitedly pointing at a seat midway in the bus. Joey shook his head. 

“We’ll need seats near the back in case either of us need the toilet. Can you find us a place in the back?”

Bendy put a hand to his chin and hummed as he scanned the back of the bus. Joey was already walking to an empty row, but it was always good to encourage the boy. Some of the parents who he’d talked to, to make up for his lackluster upbringing, said the worst thing he could do was ignore the little things. As they said, ignoring the little things was a decry of passion. 

Joey sat down in his selected seat while Ben was still browsing. While Bendy seemed surprised, his attention was stolen by the city blinking outside the window of their aisle. It was late evening, and the city was coming alive.

By the time they reached their destination, it would be the darkest night. Joey could afford nothing else. Not the tickets and not another lifetime. 

As the bus started to move, Joey took out his phone. He hadn’t changed the lock screen in years, finding the picture just too perfect to remove from his everyday life. It was of a little sleeping Bendy, only two at the time. The sleeping toddler immortalized in a photo was holding a stuffed toy cat. That toy was much older then Bendy, having been Joey’s as a child. Before a particularly memorable sleep over, it had belonged to Henry Stein.

Henry. Wonderful Henry.

The reason Joey had been able to dream, who he dreamed about, and one of the reasons Joey eventually realized he had it all wrong. Joey remembered  _ that day _ almost every night. He replayed his words to his most treasured friend. Looked for any way Henry might have been wrong. But he never found one.

Bendy had been his other wake up call. Joey had looked down at the newborn baby, who'd been placed in his arms by one of the doctors while they so desperately tried to save the mother’s life. Even in the panic of everything, Joey realized that he wasn't living the life he needed to be living for his son.

So, for the six years of Bendy’s life, Joey had been going as far as he could to give Ben the most ideal life he could provide. It didn't always work out for them, but almost as importantly, he wanted to be someone Bendy would look back on one day and not feel bitter about.

At the very least, he wanted to be a honest enough man, that Ben would be willing to point out any flaws as he saw fit. Not clench up and get nearly sick at the thought like Joey did with his own parents

He wasn’t perfect, but he was trying. While Joey couldn’t forgive his parents, or know exactly how he’d effect Bendy growing up, he could say he’d done pretty well for himself. So, he thought it was finally time to face the past head on.

Joey had sworn when Bendy was three months old that he’d see Henry again one day. He’d wanted to make the effort every year once Bendy slept through the night and social services wasn’t making visits regularly. But his heart would drop, and dread would fill his body. Those days, after he put Bendy to bed, he would set himself upon with a bowl of ice cream, a terrible movie, and pass out like that. Only from the thought of seeing Henry.

Now, Joey had finally worked up the courage. He was glad the bus was already on its way or else he would have grabbed Bendy, gotten off the bus, and forgotten about this whole thing.

“What are ya’ thinking about, Dad?” Bendy asked, grabbing for Joey’s phone. Joey let him take it.

“Just things, Bendy.” Joey replied, watching as Bendy unlocked his phone with ease, and immediately went to a folder titled ‘Ben’s Games’. 

“Good things?”

After a moment’s thought, Joey replied.

“Yes, I think so.”

* * *

Henry hadn’t been able to sleep much last night, and was not having any more success this night. He blamed it on all sorts of factors. A little too much coffee. Too much traffic passing by his apartment. That all, and the landlord upstairs was actively awake pass reasonable hours, and loud with her pacing even if she never realized it. The wet snow pounding on his window…

Groaning, Henry curled closer to his dog Boris. The large dog whined, and placed his head on Henry's chest. Henry smiled a little, reaching to stroke behind Boris’s ears. 

Most people took one look at Boris, and that look was fear. They questioned why Henry had kept his beloved dog even after he realized he had actually taken in a mixed wolfhound puppy. Boris had grown much bigger than anyone expected.

They always said his dog was not meant to be a pet. Henry had always been under the impression that he was surrounded by monsters, but that just affirmed it. 

Boris was good. Boris was loyal. Henry would do anything for his dog. Anything but be rid of him.

Just as Henry tried getting more comfortable, Boris’s head lifted from Henry's chest, and his ears perked up. Henry could make out an indistinct sound, and sighed.

“Did I forget to cover Alice's cage, good boy?” He had agreed to watch Susie’s bird, and Henry wasn’t sure why now. The bird was a menace, and was always demanding the oddest things. Birdseed on only the left side of her cage, water that had to be free of birdseed even if it was her who put it there, and many other strange things. Henry was now well aware why Sammy made a point of actively complaining about the bird during bar nights. 

He was about to just forget all about it, and let Alice sort herself out, when there was a knock, seemingly at his front door. This was a reason to get out of bed, though undesired. Henry was too tired to process it. 

Henry yawned and gestured to Boris, alerting the dog that he needed back up. When Henry left the bed so did Boris. Anyone who knocked on someone's door past twelve in the morning deserved to meet Boris. Henry was not above using Boris to make a point. It made them fear Henry even more.

When he stumbled out of his bedroom, Henry passed Alice’s cage, which was in fact covered. The sound must have been his guest to start. His guest, who was knocking once more.

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Henry muttered as he unlocked the deadbolt and braced himself for the rainy snow.

"Henry?”

Henry's heart stopped. At least it felt like it had. That voice, the blue eyes, the face behind the unkempt beard…

“Joey?” This couldn't be happening. He was sure he told Joey to never come back, and after eight years it seemed Joey had listened. But now he was here shivering on Henry's doorstep.

“Hiya, Henry.” Another, tinier voice said, sleepily. Henry looked down sharply, seeing a child clinging to the man he used to call a dear friend. A child that looked far too much like Joey.

Henry looked up, giving Joey his best, if sleepy, glare. Joey actually looked threatened by the attempt, but he pushed on in his courage

“Henry, please. I’m here to make amends. You have to believe me on that.” In this moment, Joey took notice of Boris, and in an unspoken test, his eyes didn't widen in fear.

Boris didn't find Joey to be a threat either. He laid down beside Henry so he was more level with the little child Joey had so obviously sired. The child locked eyes with Boris, and both their excitement upon meeting was evident.

So Henry made an important decision. Maybe the most important decision of his life.

“Fine, get in before you both freeze to death.”

Joey crossed through the door, leading the child beside him. Once Henry pushed the door shut, he was pulled up into a hug by Joey.

“Henry. Henry…I’m so sorry.”

Frozen for a moment, not just from the cold, Henry carefully considered his reaction. He considered rejecting the hug, but as soon as Joey started crying, Henry's arms were around Joey.

If eight years of regret and other pent up emotions were starting to form in the corners of Henry's eyes, no one needed to know.


	2. You Forgave And I Won't Forget

They hug lasted a long time, or so it felt. Eventually Joey released Henry, and lowered him to the ground. Henry blinked up at him in shock, while the child hid behind Joey’s leg and looked up Henry. 

Henry looked at this child, in winter yellow winter coat, and a dress with blue jeans under it, and hesitantly asked, “Is this your daughter?”

“Son. He likes dresses.” Joey said cooly and calmly, but Henry could hear the strain of previous experience with less open minded people. 

“Well, kid, that dress makes you look adorable.”

The kid hid a bit more behind Joey, but smiled a little. “Thank you…”

Henry nodded, and then lead the two to the kitchen. From there, Henry and Joey fell into a comfortable ignorance of each other, once their first emotions cooled off. Except when Henry had offered Joey coffee, to which Joey accepted and received a microwaved cup of old coffee Henry had sitting from the day before. 

The child received hot chocolate, which had been requested as extra sweet. Henry of course obliged. 

In the light of the kitchen and not just the porch light shining into the house, Henry could see even more resemblance between Joey and the child. This was even more unbelievable then Joey showing up again after what he’d done.

Henry stepped towards the fridge, his growling stomach giving him an idea. He pulled out a pack of bacon and a carton of eggs and then turned on the stove, and got a pan out. He put the bacon onto cook, and then looked to the kid. 

“So, kid, how do you like your eggs?” Henry asked.

“I’m not ‘kid’, I’m Bendy! Oh, yeah, eggs gotta be yellow.” Sunny side up, Henry assumed. He quirked a smile at the name though.

“Bendy, huh.”

“Yes!”

“Well, Bendy,” Certainly a nickname, and one that followed the logic of Joey Drew. “Do you like toast with your eggs?”

“Yes. And I don't want the egg bottoms brown! Joey always makes the bottoms brown and it’s yuck.” Bendy scowled, and made a waving gesture at Joey.

“It’s cooked, not yuck.” Joey meekly added before taking a long sip of his coffee.

“Joey,” Henry said sharply. “You always burnt your eggs. You feed a child burnt eggs. Shame on you.” Henry meant it in a hesitantly fond way, but Joey seemed to take it a little more personally.

“I do my best, Henry.” Henry didn't doubt that. Bendy looked happy and healthy. The same could not be said for Joey. “You're good with kids.” Joey considered afterwards, feeling less so. 

"Well, I have four of them myself."

Joey slammed his cup down onto the table. 

"....what?"

"My ex-wife Linda and I had them."

Joey’s jaw dropped.

"You were married?!"

"Yes, until she left me and took the kids to California. I get them during the summer." 

Joey looked at Henry in shock, and then down at his cup. 

"Anything else interesting going on since I left?"

Henry thought about that for a moment, then said, "...well, Wally has a parasite."

"Oh?" Joey vocalized, sounding concerned.

"He thinks we don't know but we know." Henry laughed about that, then held up an egg. “And I assume you still like yours scrambled?” Henry asked, and Joey gave a thumbs up, suddenly very interested in his coffee, like it offered answers to all his new confusion. 

Henry still wasn't entirely sure what Joey was doing here after this time. Was this a miracle? Joey Drew admits his mistakes, and they all live happily ever after? Unrealistic, really.

Likely, Joey had other motives, but it still didn't stop Henry from feeling hope that Joey was being honest. Maybe they wouldn't be the kind of friends they were before, but they could get somewhere. Maybe they could move on.

The least Henry could do was get the eggs started.

Before Henry could get onto that, Bendy spoke up again.

“Can I pet your dog?”

Henry turned to look at the child. Bendy was looking at the very patient Boris. Boris was lying near the entrance of the kitchen closest to the table. Boris looked as excited at the potential attention as Bendy was.

Henry smiled.

“Of course. He’s a very good boy.”

Bendy flung himself from the chair and ran to Boris. Bendy attempted to hug Boris, but his arms didn't go all the way around him. Boris’s tail wagged, showing he didn't exactly mind.

“Just watch that he doesn't take you out with his tail. He’s done it to me. He doesn’t mean to but he gets excited.”

Bendy nodded, although Henry expected that in his excitement he might forget.

“He’s so cool! Where’d you get him? Is he part horse? Is he supposed to be this big?” Bendy chattered on. “Joey, can we get a dog? What's this dog’s name?”

“Let me answer before you ask more questions. His name is Boris. I found him wandering alongside a road and fed him some bacon soup without the use of alcohol I had in a thermos and he followed me home. I’m pretty sure he’s a wolf-” Henry was cut off by a startled Joey.

“You still make that shit?”

“What’s ‘that shit’?” Bendy echoed. Henry wasn't sure what to say about the swearing. Henry decided it really wasn't his place at the moment to say anything. Joey had no reaction to it anyways.

“Bacon soup? Oh, it’s bacon and cheese boiled in creme. Plus other ingredients. I rather like it.” Henry considered making it now instead. To spite Joey for causing Henry all this confusion.

Joey stood up dramatically, and wiped away a fake tear.

“It’s like diabetes had a baby with my lactose intolerance, Bendy. Don't trust Henry's bacon soup.” Eight years and Joey still remembered the taste.

“Okay, Dad.” Bendy didn't seem overly attentive to the conversation anymore, aside from a slight smile at his dad’s antics. He looked back Boris and rubbed behind his ear. 

“If it makes you feel better,” Henry said. “I don't make it that often anymore. I think the last time was when I found Boris. I certainly wouldn't feed it to him again.”

Henry liked this. If they kept talking about mundane topics, maybe they could ease into the things more hard to swallow.

“How you just came across a dog like that is…odd.”

“It doesn't matter. Boris is my good boy.”

Joey went awkwardly silent after that, and Henry took that as permission to stop talking as well. If he was being honest, he didn't really like talking. With Boris, it was easy, but he’d much rather stay silent over anything else.

It didn't escape him that Joey looked uneasy as Henry flipped the bacon. Past bacon soup trauma, Henry knew.

When he went to crack the eggs, that was when he first heard Boris snore. Then he realized he hadn’t heard anything from Bendy in some time. Rather suspicious for a child.

Boris was dead asleep, snoring softly. That never lasted long. Bendy was quite the same, using Boris less as a pillow and more as a bed. Joey already had his phone out and was taking pictures.

Henry would have to ask for some of those photos. It was actually adorable. Both the scene in front of him, and Joey’s sudden enthusiasm, for a child that belonged to him. Henry still couldn't get his head around that. But he wouldn't pry in any serious way. Not until he was more comfortable with Joey’s presence.

“I have to ask.” Henry grinned, thinking maybe a joke would help the mood. “Is he mine?”

After thinking it over, Joey actually laughed. Either it was at the ridiculousness of the comment, or that Henry actual made a joke at a time like this.

Joey did that too. Added facts into any single lie or joke, that all too often, with the right lies, people would believe him wholeheartedly. With enough to work with, he could make anything sound truthful.

This familiar joy was tainted. Joey’s lying had been part of his eventual downfall. One lie too many had ruined what should have been a lifelong friendship.

Henry grabbed Bendy's cooling hot chocolate from the table and added coffee from the pot to it, downing it in one go.

“Sorry.” Joey said quietly.

“Hmmm?” 

“I’m so sorry. It actually took time for me to realize I was wrong, when it should have been obvious to me from the start. Then it took me this long to man up and admit it to you.” Joey held his head in his hands, sniffling. “I just feel like total shit.”

Joey looked up, where Henry was awkwardly offering Joey a plate of bacon.

“I really can't say much here. You have every right to feel like shit. But you came back, so...bacon?”

Joey reached for a piece, but then stopped, and shook his head.

“Henry, you bastard.”

“You were going to take the food.”

“Yes, but,” The digital clock on the microwave said 2:24. “I never asked for food. It’s a bit too early. Let me have my misery until at least five.”

“Okay.” Henry started picking at the bacon himself. “Speaking of, how long are you planning to stay?”

Chances were, not long. Joey probably had a wife to get back to. Or maybe not. Something about that made the bacon seem bitter instead of savory. Now, Henry was fine with a man or a woman. But Joey had never had any interest in women. It was unsettling, honestly, for him to have a child now. There could be a million reasons why and Henry liked none.

Joey looked considerate. “I had no plans past apologizing and working to your forgiveness.”

No money to get back home, Henry guessed. Sneaky bastard. With a kid too. Henry was a sucker for kids.

“Stay for now since you came so far, and see if you earn it. You at least have my pity.”

Joey could live with that. It was fair. Even if Henry never fully forgave him, at least Joey had been able to apologize.

With one last look at Bendy and Boris, who was so careful even in sleep not to crush the six year old whose love he’d so readily earned, Joey took a piece of bacon, and felt a little bit of peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here in this version, Linda is not Henry's landlord, but instead his ex-wife. That is on account of another character being introduced in the game that fits the dynamic I want for the landlord much better.


	3. Only One Demand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As pointed out by Hope Holloway, I made a slight editing mistake last chapter which is now since fixed. For those that read that misplaced text before I fixed it, the shoe conversation happens here. Thank you, Hope.

Over bacon, they got to talking about their lives.

“Four kids? How’d that happen?” 

“Linda made a few convincing arguments. I just agreed, and she kept having them.”

“Was it a bad break up?”

Henry shook his head, and smiled. “I worked too much, and she…well, it wasn’t healthy for us or the kids. So when Linda met this woman...I encouraged her to follow her heart, and that was with a woman who dreamed of California. We all still video chat and talk on the phone a lot.” Henry looked very happy for that. “The kids talk of coming to live with me when they’re older but right now they’re better off with Linda and her soon to be wife.” 

“Very good. It's just odd to consider you with kids.” 

Henry could see the logic in it, and pulled out his phone and scrolled until he found a picture of all four. “This is Porter, Daisy, Albert, and Gwendolyn.” Two girls and two boys all hugged close and smiled for the camera. All took after Henry in various ways, and Joey understood what Henry must have felt seeing Bendy this first time. 

“Your offspring are very impressive.” 

Henry smiled wider at that. 

"Yours is too. But is he mine? You never answered." A teasing tone entered his voice.

Without a pause of consideration, Joey said. “Yes. I made him in a ritual that involved failing to convince several gods that I did in fact have a soul. Instead I offered them the left shoe I took from you.” Joey added with a grin, a familiar twinkle in his eye.

Henry had missed that look.

“So that's where that went.”

It almost sounded truthful. Henry had noticed he was missing a shoe shortly after the last time he saw Joey. He’d forgotten all about it until Joey brought it up. It was likely Joey had in fact taken a shoe or had noticed it’s disappearance before Henry had, and with how his mind worked, he remembered it even now.

“I want that shoe back.” 

“The demons have it. You’ll just have to stop yearning for what is forever lost.” There was a brief break in Joey’s expression, but the silliness soon replaced it again. 

“But it was my favorite shoe…” Henry said in a mournful tone.

"We shall have a funeral for it then." Joey chuckled, then asked, "Has anyone else had kids or more kids?"

"Yep. Norman's married with two daughters and a son, Sammy's got a new daughter, and a baby on the way with his newest girlfriend, and Grant's looking into adopting a child he's been fostering." Henry thought a moment on that. "Actually, we should have Bendy meet the kid. The boy's name is Edgar, and he's just a little younger than Bendy seems. They could be good friends."

Joey lit up at the thought of it. Bendy didn’t have any friends back home. 

“Oh, that would be wonderful!” Joey cheered and then munched on a piece of bacon while Henry pulled out of his phone to text Grant that very moment. Henry then paused, and put his phone on the table. Henry would need more time to think of how to convince Grant to let his child anywhere near any spawn of Joey.

As the sudden silence went on, Henry wondered what was safe to tell Joey right now. There wasn’t much, but Henry was confident that Joey would find things out soon on his own. 

Just before Henry told Joey some pretty big news, Boris let out a very loud snore, and Joey snorted in amusement. 

“He’s really a wolf?” 

“No, pretty sure Irish Wolfhound mixed with some wolf.”

“And you fed him bacon soup?” 

“Well, he was starving. I couldn’t let a puppy starve and he won’t follow me home until I fed him. It was only the one time.” Henry stated, knowing he’d made the right choice that night. 

“You’re still a good man Henry. Crazy, but good.” Joey spoke like he believed those words with his whole heart. 

“Thank you, Joey.” Henry grabbed another piece of bacon. 

It was something, at least, able to fall onto old patterns and ignore the new. Even when the bacon ran out. They were avoiding the awkward subjects, but that was alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Porter, Daisy, Albert, and Gwendolyn are names that all appear in BATIM Chapter 4, and since I’ve seen some people use those names for Henry’s kids, I decided to use them here.


	4. What I'm Looking For

By four AM, Joey looked completely ready to join his son in dreamland, and despite his mild protests, Henry got him to pass out on the lazyboy in the living room. Now alone in thought, Henry really started to consider the consequences of this reunion. What too was Joey thinking, coming back?

Henry was at a loss.

Then there was Bendy to consider. Henry had felt comfortable enough to joke about it, but there had to be a reason Joey had brought the boy for Henry to see. Especially when it might have been more simple and honest to come alone. Henry wondered if the intent to bringing Bendy was to confuse Henry's perception of Joey. Was Joey honest or selfish? Good or bad intentioned? Henry was far too confused about this, and maybe if he slept too he’d have a better grasp on the reality of it all.

Making himself another cup of coffee instead of returning to his bed, he opened the group chat he and his friends used, intending to ask for their opinions, since at least half of them would still be awake, but decided that it was best to keep Joey being back a secret for now, and closed it.

Then, clearly alerted by him showing up as active, a text from Wally popped up.

> FranksandBeans: Henry can I live with you? I can't take Shawn's bullshit anymore.
> 
> Henryebread: Why?
> 
> FranksandBeans: I'm up crying over Mamma Mia 2 and Shawn told me to go to sleep. I need a roommate who appreciates a good movie.

Henry scoffed.

> Henryebread: Like Shawn wasn't awake several pages into a hobby site search.
> 
> FranksandBeans: He totally is.

Henry then got a text from Shawn

> Shawn Flynn Doesn't Deserve A Food Pun: Henry please tell Wally to go to sleep. I'd text his boyfriend but then they'd probably both stay up talking about that movie.
> 
> Henryebread: Its a good movie Shawn.
> 
> Shawn Flynn Doesn't Deserve A Food Pun: Being up this late is not good for the baby. He needs rest.
> 
> Henryebread: Wally is a bit immature but that's no reason to call him a baby.

Wally sent another text.

> FranksandBeans: You were right! He’s looking for doll supplies. He yelled at me.
> 
> Henryebread: :(
> 
> FranksandBeans: He said he’d buy me a new plant if I went to bed, so this is goodbye. At least until Shawn thinks I’m asleep and stops acting like a worried parent. Then I’ll look at memes.
> 
> Henryebread: Any reason you wouldn’t sleep?

Henry didn’t get a response from Wally after that, so assumed he’d passed out. Thinking of other sleeping darlings, Henry decided to check on Bendy and Boris.

They were still passed out in the kitchen, and had he not known from experience that Boris was a moving heater he would have tossed a blanket over the two. Bendy was clutching Boris’s fur as he made soft sounds in his sleep, clearly content with the set up.

Even though he knew it foolish and just a joke, he couldn't help but crouch down and study Bendy for any signs of himself. Maybe it was the lack of sleep and too much coffee, but maybe there was a way Ben was his? Attempted demon summoning was up Joey’s alley, after all.

It was wasted effort from the start anyways, he knew. Demons or not, Henry's red hair, blue eyes, and pale skin, combined with Joey’s dark hair, blue eyes, and olive skin would not produce a dark haired, dark eyed, light brown skinned child.

Just as Henry was started to feel sad, he got another text from Shawn.

> Shawn Flynn Doesn’t Deserve A Food Pun: Wally’s not asleep but at least he’s not crying anymore. Just humming to himself.
> 
> Henryebread: That’s good to know.
> 
> Shawn Flynn Doesn’t Deserve A Food Pun: I hope he’s not too mad at me. I’m just cranky. I should sleep.
> 
> Henryebread: Yes, you should.

Henry felt a bit like a hypocrite with that response.

> Shawn Flynn Doesn’t Deserve A Food Pun: Think he’ll tell us soon though? We all already know, but its starting to show so its not like he can hide it much longer.
> 
> Henryebread: Parasites are a very troubling thing for anyone who never planned to get one. He’ll tell us when he wants to.

Henry then closed the chat. Henry didn’t want to think about it anymore. Henry was a little miffed his own cousin wouldn’t tell him about such a big thing, but whatever Wally thought the group would think, he was likely wrong.

Above him, he heard his landlord still shuffling about. He’d have to mention to her he had guests, because he had no idea how long Joey and Bendy would be saying, nor any clear idea yet if Bendy was a noisy child.

So, Henry climbed the stairs to her level, and knocked on the door. After a consideration of seconds, Lacie Benton opened the door. She looked apologetic.

“Sorry, did I wake you?”

“No, I’ve been awake on my own.”

“That’s good. What do you need?”

"I have guests."

"Oh, none of your friends I know? You wouldn't mention it to me if it was one of them."

Henry nodded.

"He's an old friend from before I met Linda. He and I grew up together. He's back here with his kid so I wanted to give you a heads up about the both of them."

Lacie looked considerate.

"It that Joey you talk about sometimes while drunk?"

"Yeah."

"I can only imagine the stress this'll cause you."

"Like you wouldn't believe."

Lacie laughed, and then ruffled Henry's hair. "Thanks for the warning and good luck. Now, you have eye bags darker than most eyeshadow. Go to sleep."

"I-"

"Sleep." She said firmly, gaze directly on him. Henry stepped back. Lacie had an air of authority even Henry wouldn't disobey.

"Okay. See you later, Lacie."

Henry raced down the stairs as Lacie closed her door, and got into his bed. As soon as he hit the sheets, it was like his body realized how much it needed rest.

Within minutes, Henry fell asleep on this new future, unaware how much would really change, but not necessarily unhappy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this version, Shawn and Wally have nothing romantic between them (And their ages here reflect my current headcanons, so Shawn is 23 and Wally is 18, unlike the original). They're more like bickering brothers.


	5. The View Used To Be Much Clearer

Joey was woken up later by a text notification. Angry at himself for forgetting to turn off his phone, Joey still looked at the text.

> SammyTheCat: Did you get home safely.

Joey rolled his eyes.

> JoeyTheCunt: Yes. I got to Henry's house.
> 
> SammyTheCat: Good. Good. 
> 
> JoeyTheCunt: So I hear you have one new kid and another on the way. Did you not care to mention that?
> 
> SammyTheCat: OwO. 
> 
> JoeyTheCunt: don't. 
> 
> SammyTheCat: I'm the town's hottest radio host, and I have the sexiest voice too. I figured you'd assume I had more kids since my divorce.
> 
> JoeyTheCunt: I don’t need to hear this
> 
> SammyTheCat: (ﾐiⓛᆽⓛiﾐ)✧

Joey just outright turned off his phone at that. He put his hand over his face, and groaned, then sighed, and turned his phone back on and went back to the text app. 

> JoeyTheCunt: Why didn't you tell me Henry got married??
> 
> _ SammyTheCat changed Joey Andrews nickname to  _ JoeyTheLoveSickCunt.
> 
> JoeyTheLoveSickCunt: Hey!
> 
> _ SammyTheCat changed Joey Andrews nickname to  _ OwO

That earned another shut off of the phone. This was getting him nowhere. But at least he was here, at Henry’s house. That conscious thought hit Joey like a truck. Henry. He was in Henry's apartment, ate his food, and they'd actually talked about some things. Joey hadn’t missed the distrust in Henry's eyes, but he’d let Joey stay, so that counted for something.

It was overwhelming. Joey turned onto his side and forced himself to sleep again to avoid the welm. He was only asleep for ten minutes though before he was woken up by something wet touching his face.

Joey opened one eye, and saw Henry's dog staring down at him, tongue sticking out. Joey hadn’t been surprised by Henry's choice in animal. Having a dog that towered over even its owner was exactly a Henry thing, even if Joey was unaware of it occurring before.

Not that Henry was very tall to begin with, but still a very Henry thing. Henry always found a way to terrify people he didn't like in spite of his height and cute face…

Joey had eyes. He’d always though Henry was good to look at. Ever since they were children, Joey had found Henry cute.

But that meant nothing, because he’d also used to look up to Sammy, counting on him to be more than an annoyance. Because when Joey was six, the aloof and moody twelve year old Sammy had seemed so impossibly old. Sammy could read and write without an adult helping him along, and he could go anywhere he wanted without an adult.

Joey would realize later that Sammy wasn't the impossible thing he seemed. Sure, he hung out with him and Henry whenever he was back in the area, and he taught them many things, but it was because his peers rejected him for his fixations and his hyperactive anger and all the little things that frustrated and distracted him. 

Sammy could read and write, but Joey never knew at six the combined hours Sammy spent crying because while the words and symbols would be there on the page, clear as day, he could never look at them long enough before his attention span would wane, and it didn't matter if he’d been in love with the world or music he was reading. He could rarely bounce back once distracted.

And he was often around them because usually he was escaping whatever crappy foster home he was in that month. Sammy had only stopped running off from foster homes when he was sixteen, and that was because he had reason to stay at one. 

Noble and kind, and a sign Sammy had a heart behind his often brash personality. Joey allowed himself to smile at the memory of Sammy’s sudden will to live after that happened. He’d been foreignly happy and sweet and it had morphed into his base personality as he grew up and got to be all he wanted to be. 

Realizing Sammy wasn't impossible had been one of Joey’s first lessons in lying. If he could convince himself from the presented facts that Sammy knew the world better, he could convince anyone of anything.

Those lies used to be dreams and wishful thinking.  _ Henry it doesn't matter what they say! We’ll make it in this world even if they think we have no right being here. _

But they turned ugly.  _ This will all work out Henry. You’ll see. _

Joey might cry, but he couldn't cry. Bendy was standing beside the dog, rubbing his eyes. Joey had never cried around Bendy.

And maybe, just maybe, that was the greatest lie Joey had ever told.

“Dad, can we go for our walk?” It was a routine of theirs to take a walk in the morning, and Bendy seemed determined not to mess with the routine even in an unfamiliar area. Joey rubbed his eyes and nodded. “Can Boris come?” 

“Sure. We’ll be less likely to be attacked, and I’m sure Henry won’t mind. Let me leave a note for Henry in case he wakes up before we come back.” 

Bendy jumped up and down excitedly. “Yay!” Bendy raced to the front door with Boris following behind, while Joey went to look for usual paper to leave that note. He found sticky notes on a desk. Clearly Henry’s animation desk, from all the sketches and official looking paperwork. 

Joey smiled. It looked like Henry had actually made it as an animator. He was proud of his old pal. He picked up the notepad and removed the top note, which said CALL BUDDY and stuck it on Henry’s computer screen, wrote his own note with a pen on the desk as well. 

**_Went for a walk. We took your dog but its not a dognapping. Be back soon._ **

Joey put back down the notepad and pen and went to join Bendy and Boris. Bendy, already back in his winter coat and boots, reached up and opened the door just as Joey got there, and dashed out of the house as Joey quickly put his own winter wear on and dashed after him.

Bendy, in all his joy, immediately slipped and fell face first into the snow. He laid there, accepting his new life, until Joey got to him and picked him out of the snow. Boris barked softly and licked Bendy’s lightly reddened cheeks while Bendy giggled. 

“Whoops!” Bendy grinned up at Joey, and held up his hand for Joey to hold. Joey took it and they walked through the snow until they reached the lightly dusted sidewalk and then walked upon it, aimlessly. 

The last time Joey had been in this town, it’d be eight years and fall. Some things had changed, while other places had stayed the same. It was serial for Joey, but fascinating for Bendy, who’d never seen any of this at all. 

Boris happily lumbered behind the two, and seemed aimless as them. That is until they got closer to the business area of town, and Boris’s ears and nose perked up. Quick as lightning, Boris took off. 

In that moment, Joey realized he hadn’t found whatever harness and leash Henry had for Boris and q huge dog was now charging through an early morning lit town. 

Joey panicked, and grabbed Bendy in his arms and took right off after Boris, hoping to catch him before someone else did. 

He had already lost Henry once. If he lost Henry’s dog, there was no way he’d ever get his old friend back ever again. 


	6. Winter Here

Wally was late for work. What was worse was that he was the manager. And owner of the business due to bizzare connections and circumstance. But at least his one employee, one Thomas Connor, usually brought the extra set of keys to the building. Wally had probably forgotten his keys anyways, but knew if he checked he’d have to walk away the way back home and he was already late. He did not need to be even later. 

He was eating a sandwich as he walked, headphones blasting some song Wally knew could be from any anime or any J-Pop band. This was his boyfriend’s music playlist, and Wally always forgot that he was allowed to make a playlist of his own favored songs until he was offline and stuck listening to his boyfriend’s odd mixture of song tastes. Still, the songs filled his walk to the shop, and weren’t bad at all. Just not his favourite. 

It was a calm day, so Wally only paid the most attention when crossing the streets. Otherwise he was lost in his mind.

This of course was all a test of faith in nothing coming between him and work, and his distractions not testing fate. Wally had never been good at tests. The only test Wally passed with flying colors was a pregnancy test, and that was by accident.

His sandwich was in his hand one moment, and gone the next. Wally stopped, and blinked, and removed his headphones, and really looked at the world around him, and saw a familiar dog. 

“Boris?” Wally said in shock, seeing the very familiar and distinct dog his cousin Henry owned licking the ground of the crumbs he had already decimated Wally’s sandwich to. 

Boris looked up from his stolen meal, lazy tongue stuck out of his mouth in a doggish smile. He then started to sniff Wally for more food. Wally moved away, as he had several meals worth and snacks in his side bag. 

“No way in heck am I letting you at my shrimp and pickles! You can have the ham though..” Wally dug through his bag, and pulled out a ham sandwich, and handed it Boris, who eagerly took it. “I only make them because the darn baby makes me crave pork and ham.” Which annoyed Wally to no ends, since while he’d been breaking kosher for years, he generally didn’t like ham for taste reasons.

With Boris distacted, Wally pat his head, and concerned, asked “Did Henry leave the door open by accident, pal? You look like you’re alone” It didn’t really seem like a Henry action to so easily let his dog escape, but Henry had had a bad week. 

Boris just ignored him, looking for more food on the ground. Wally held his bag protectively. 

“Excuse me, sir!” Wally looked around him at the sudden voice, and charging to him was a tall man holding a child. Boris looked up, and barked happily, tail wagging. The child jumped out of the man’s arms and raced to hug Boris. “Sorry, I forget to put him on a lead when I brought him from my friend’s house.” 

“From Henry’s house?” 

The man blinked, and Wally was sure he recognized those eyes from somewhere. 

“Yes, how do you know Henry and his dog?”

“Well, Henry’s the only one in town with that kind of dog, and Henry Stein is my cousin.”

The man paused and thought, then gave Wally a once over. 

“...Wally?” 

Finally it clicked.

“Joey! What the fuck are you doing back here?!” Wally pulled out a knife, and pointed it at Joey. Joey was unfazed. 

“Just Joey things…” He muttered. “Or as you’d all call them, stupid things.”

“I’d say.” Wally stepped away. "I miss coffee. I miss my boyfriend. Heck, at this point I miss having cable, at least compared to how much I missed you. Which was not at all."

Joey nodded. 

“Very understandable…so...how you been?” 

That was a question Wally very much didn’t want to answer. Before a fight could really start, Boris barked to get their attention, and gave Wally pleading eyes for more food. 

“No...and why the kid?” Wally and Bendy stared at each other, judging each other. 

“He’s mine. My son.”

Wally felt a headache coming on.

"And who in their right mind let you adopt...Oh." Wally inspected Bendy further, and realized he looked enough like Joey. "I see you know as much as I do the woes of a broken cond...ah…" Wally switched out his words last second because of Bendy staring intently at him with the innocence he should not tarnish "...a broken heart? Cause my heart is broken by the fact that my boyfriend is out of state away at college and I won't see him for awhile." 

Joey looked away. 

"I really shouldn't say."

"Oh, the kid doesn't know his mother?"

"He never got the chance to."

That gave Wally a shot of pain and misery and sympathy and fear. 

“Did..she...?” 

“Yeah, she did…” 

Wally now felt incredibly awkward and worried for his own self. He looked between Joey, Bendy, and Boris, and stuttering on his thoughts, sighed and pushed away his misgivings for a new line of thought. 

“How about you three all come to my job and I can call Henry about you being more of a dumbass than me, and we all can warm up.” 

“Do you have hot chocolate?!” Bendy asked excited. 

“Yes, I do.”

“Maybe cookies too?” 

Wally gave his side back a pat. “Yes.” 

Bendy jumped around excitedly. “Lead the way, new best friend!”


	7. Until The River Runs Dry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Other stories in this AU are planned and will be under the Philosophy Of Warmth series name.
> 
> As a heads up, Wally acts a little erratic especially in this chapter cause the sudden shock of Joey showing up is putting his already fragile hormonal state on the fritz so he goes through about every emotion in the span of about twenty minutes.

Wally texted while he walked, intending to get Joey in trouble as soon as possible. He wasn’t usually this spiteful, but he was starting to mourn the loss of the sandwich now that he had a person to blame for Boris being loose.

> FranksandBeans: Henry I found someone you lost.

Wally slipped his phone back into his pocket and better positioned his headphones on his shoulders, still faintly hearing the music playing. It’d switched to some country song. His boyfriend had a taste for the older songs of the genre, and the sudden switch from a J-Pop song threw Wally off a bit. 

Just as this was. Joey was here. Joey had a son. Who was absolutely adorable. 

“What sort of hot chocolate is it?” 

“Very chocolatey hot chocolate.”

“Do you have whipped cream?”

“Yes.”

“Cool whip or actual cream?”

“Cream! My shop is a cool whip free zone!” 

“And marshmallows?” 

Wally paused walking, and thought it over.  
  
“...Joey, are you in the market to adopt out your kid? He’s a child after my own heart.”

Joey just grunted, and shook his head. So Wally shrugged and ruffled Bendy’s hair. Bendy blinked, and hummed to himself.

“Oh! I’m Bendy. Who are you?” Bendy suddenly asked. 

“Walter Lyall Franks. Or just Wally.” Wally replied cheerfully, hyped whenever he could talk of the name he chose for himself. Bendy nodded, seeming to like it.

“Bendy isn’t the name Dad first gave me but I don’t like that name. Benjamim! Everyone calls me Benjamin! So, I declared myself just Bendy! Tada!” Bendy proclaimed proudly. Wally looked at Joey.

“Did you misspell his name on the birth certificate and just went with it?” 

“No. I did that on purpose. I never realized how bad people were with accepting slightly different names until everyone messed up his name, sometimes on purpose.” 

Wally nodded at that. “You know I know all about that one.” 

“But at least your deadname is slightly uncommon, when aside from the different letter, Ben’s name is rather common.”

Wally laughed. “I’m just surprised you actually named your kid after your cat.”

Joey stopped walking, and covered Bendy’s ears. Bendy’s eyes were more wide. 

“Kitty?” Bendy asked softly. 

“Please don’t bring him up.”  
  
“A kitty named Bendy.” Bendy muttered. 

“He was a good cat and that’s all you should know.” Joey uncovered Bendy’s ears, and did a dramatic twirl. “You must not believe a word Henry or Wally ever says about that cat.”  
  
Bendy nodded, and grinned. Wally looked at Joey oddly “Oh- _kay.”_

Just as Wally was about to second guess his choices, he heard a text notification, and grabbed his phone.

> Henryebread: My brother?
> 
> FranksandBeans: No, sadly. Your dog. 
> 
> Henryebread: why and how
> 
> FranksandBeans: Ask Joey.
> 
> FranksandBeans: I’m taking him to the shop by the way.

Wally got no reply after that, so assumed Henry would be showing up there soon. 

“Come on, lets just get where we’re going.” Wally then started speed walking, with the father-son duo and dog following. 

Soon they reached a building. Wally suddenly stopped, and looked up. “Keep Boris back. Hold his collar.” 

“Why?”

Wally pulled something out of his bag. “Daily ritual…” Wally stepped forward, and shook a bag of cat treats. After a moment, everyone heard a growl from above them, and perched on the sign was a very large black cat. 

“Hello my beautiful ink demon. I’m about to toss treats up, so don’t jump down and attack me or my guests.” Wally spoke, and got a handful out. He tossed it up near the cat and the cat sniffed around for it. 

Eventually finding the treats, the cat began to eat them madly, and Wally got behind everyone and started ushering them all into the building. Once they were all inside, Joey looked down at Wally confused. 

“What was that about?”  
  
“Inky is a feral cat who lives on the roof. I suspect he’s blind, yet he is dangerous. Hence keeping him distracted with treats.” Wally lead them to his office, still chattering about the cat. “I plan to finally get him to trust me enough that I can get him away from the roof and have the Lawrences socialize him! I’d do it but I had cat allergies.”

“Has he always been there?” Bendy asked. 

“Old boss said he just showed up here one day.”

“He’s cute.”  
  
“Most cats are.” 

Wally then shuffled out of the room to get Bendy’s hot chocolate, while Joey looked around the room. It looked like a basic office. But with enough looking, it had that Wally Franks feel. The room was littered with hidden stuffed toys, old food wrappers, and the apparent cleanliness of it was an illusion. 

Bendy found the chair at the desk, and upon discovering it spung, he climbed onto it and twirled around, squealing excitedly. Joey smiled. He liked that Bendy was feeling free enough to act like a normal kid. 

Quickly enough Wally came back with the hot chocolate, and it was topped with whipped cream, marshmallows, and even some hot chocolate mix sprinkled on top. Wally cleaned some papers and placed it on the desk in front of Bendy. Bendy gasped, and took the cup. 

“Huh, I never asked if you wanted anything to drink.” Wally said to Joey.  
  
“I’m good.”  
  
“Well, okay.”

Joey looked around once more, and then at Wally again. 

“So...what work do you do here wherever this is.” Joey asked. 

“Long story. I’m the manager and owner here of this here mechanics shop.” Wally replied, going over and turning on the radio. A song drifted into the room, and Wally raised an eyebrow. “I really wonder how much control Sammy has over the music…” Wally started singing along to the song and ignoring the situation. _“And I will sail my vessel.'Til the river runs dry.”_

“What? How. You’re only 18!”

 _“These waters are my sky. I'll never reach my destination. If I never try. So, I will sail my vessel-”_ Joey cut Wally’s singing off by grabbing and shaking him, and immediately received a punch to the face. 

Joey rubbed his nose, and looked at Wally, whose happy mood had dropped and he was now glaring and holding his stomach rather protectively. “You’re on my time, Joey. This is my work hours. I will sing if I want to.” Wally growled, and it was rather chilling. 

“I’m sorry…” 

“Oh, I bet you aren’t! You’re just Mister Joey Drew, who never gave a shit about anyone but yourself and that cat of yours!” Wally burst into tears, and Joey froze up, not sure what to do with this. 

Bendy looked concerned with the display, but from learned behavior, stayed quiet and let what he perceived as a fight go on while he focused on his hot chocolate. It was how he learnt how to make things less worse. 

Joey looked around, and then picked up one of the stuffed toys, and shoved it at Wally and Wally stared at it.

“Hug this.” Joey hoped this would work. 

“Why should I?” 

“Because I can’t handle people crying.”  
  
Wally wiped his tears. “Rather selfish of you, I think.”

“Its all I can be, Wally.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song in this chapter was The River by Garth Brooks.


	8. Safe And Sound

Wally did not take the stuffed toy to hug it. Instead he’d thrown it and nailed Joey right in the face. The glass eyes hit Joey dead on and he heard Wally laugh as the shocked expression crossed his face. 

“That’s revenge for shaking me!”

“I thought the punch was.”  
  
“No, that was for being you!”

Wally then went to his coat rack, and pulled off his winter jacket, and slipped on a vest of similar bulkiness. He then stomped out of the office, closing the door behind him. 

“Well, fuck.” Joey muttered, knowing he’d probably ruined all chances of bonding with Wally again. Joey didn’t mean to be stupid, but old patterns died hard.

Not having anything else to do, Joey went and sat in a corner. With Wally mad at him, and Bendy more interested in his hot chocolate and avoiding chaos by pretending to be ignorant, and Boris already asleep, Joey felt there was only one thing he could do. Angst over his lost cat he’d been so cruelly reminded of.

He pulled up a picture on his phone. The only one he had left of a cat who’d stolen his heart when many others were breaking it piece by piece.

His little Bendy kitten. He hadn’t actually named Ben after the cat, at first. But taking care of a baby reminded him of when he had been up at all hours saving a little kitten’s life after finding him half frozen in the rain. 

Joey had been so proud of his work, and of his little kitten. Joey had loved that cat more than anything. And then…

Wiping away tears, Joey closed the photo app and then browsed online to cheer himself up. Yet even with the distraction, Joey still felt heavy. Joey decided to convince himself it was because of the reason, lack of a job aside, he had no money left, and not because of a cat long gone.

So, he stood up and went to the desk and leaned on it. His hand went to his leg, and at that moment the door swished open and Wally called behind him to someone yelling angrily at him from across the shop.

“You don’t have a leg to stand on!” Wally taunted.  
  
Hearing this perfect opportunity handed to him, Joey leaned down and after fiddling with it a bit, popped off his prosthetic leg and put it onto the desk. “You are correct.”

Wally turned around sharply, and saw the prosthetic. After a few seconds of processing it, he burst out laughing. 

Bendy looked up and was confused to see his dad’s leg on the desk. And was wondering why Wally was laughing so soon after crying. He’d clearly missed a lot. He watched intently, until he spotted a marshmallow he missed in the cup and dived face first to lick it out.

The leg was then pushed away as Joey sat down on the desk himself. He picked up the leg and showed it off to Wally. “Like it? It’s an updated design of one my friend Allison made me.” It felt odd to talk about Allison so casually but it really felt nice all the same.

“It’s awesome!” Wally inspected it and poked it. “I don’t know much about false limbs, but this one looks great. Better than your first one.”

Joey grimaced. After the accident, Joey’s parents had bought him the cheapest prosthetic they could find and then Joey was sure they beat it against the sidewalk to make it even less functional. For whatever reason, for all the money they owned, they couldn’t buy new hearts to replace the ones they were born without. 

“So...you grew up to be a mechanic?” Joey asked, putting the leg down. He needed to make peace with Wally, and he seemed back into a better mood. 

"Well, in a way. I most do the less messy work these days. That’s all Tommy’s job now. This is the perfect tier of job for me as is. Sure, though, it means a lot of paperwork and I gotta ask Grant for help with the math. He said working with me just proves if he'd become an accountant like his parents wanted instead of a school teacher he would have gone crazier than being a high school teacher already has made him." Wally scratched the back of his head. "But it also keeps my mind busy and so it lowers my big dumbass energy."

Joey had never pictured Wally doing any desk work job. Wally was always the more chaotic type and as Joey knew him before would have gone insane having to stay in one place for so long. 

“Calling yourself a dumbass isn’t nice.”   
  
“I am a dumbass though. I see it as that I’m a smart cookie, but the adhd has fried my brain a little too much. It’s not bad around here, even for dumbasses.” Wally sounded very confident. "I can't really do any heavy work around here anymore, ‘cause of…" Wally put a hand on his stomach, and sighed.

“Because of what?”  
  
Wally looked away, then at Bendy. “Hey, Bendy. How about you go say hello to my friend Tom. He’s somewhere in the shop.” 

Bendy looked at Joey for confirmation. Joey nodded hesitantly, since Wally clearly didn’t want Bendy to hear. Joey wondered if it was to do with that parasite Henry had talked about.

The child left the room, and Wally took a deep breath and then went around to the other side of his desk. He pulled out a folder, and held it to his chest, then went back around to face Joey. 

"Well, not so funny story...I never replaced my birth control after my last pack ran out since I wanted to start hormone treatment now that I'm in a more secure time of my life and an adult…never got the chance to start yet 'cause I'm now five months along with this little dude." Wally handed Joey the file, and Joey pulled out ultrasound pictures 

While part of him wanted to be shocked Wally had just announced a pregnancy to him, the black and white photos brought flashbacks. Joey thought back to when he'd been in the room with Allison during the first ultrasound. How when the technician asked if they wanted to know the sex, Allison had said yes when Joey wanted to say no.

Joey swallowed the building lump in his throat, and forced a smile. 

"You know the sex of the baby?"

Some of Wally’s tension visibly left him.

"Yep. Decided to ask the tech. One little boy who's gonna drain my bank account but I don't care."

"You don't...look five months pregnant." 

Wally waved his hand in dismissal. "Well, I used to be pretty darn toned before this and I weighed far less, so yes, I look it. Plus, the doctor said my insides is all wonky so the baby is a little more inwards than outwards."

"Oh...my condolences."

"Thanks." 

“...sorry I shook you..” Joey apologized, finally realizing why Wally had acted as he did. 

“Apology not accepted, but glad you realize that was a shit move”

“Well, I am a shit person.” 

Joey hadn't always been in a bad spot or a thoughtless person. He'd followed Allison to Broadway. Been there to cheer her on. Joey would pinpoint when things went wrong to when of all people, his ex-friend Susie Campbell had also stepped onto stage. 

Allison angsted a lot over Susie. She felt like Susie was better for every roll. _She's so beautiful and attractive and a much better actor._ Allison said that and so many variations of the sort. One night they'd drank too much towards Allison's misery and thought too little of consequence, and a month later Joey was there holding Allison as she cried over a positive pregnancy test. 

Joey had done a lot in his life, and it was only then that he felt like shit for even existing.

But there was no changing that now. 

Suddenly they heard a scream. 

Wally cringed. “I think Henry forgot the cat treats.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The photo of the kitten is an edited photo of this: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charcoal_Bengal.jpg


End file.
